Today I introduce two new characters to the Circuit roster: Pancho and Lefty. Lefty is the one on the left, but that makes him the right hand, technically speaking. I know, I know… it’s complicated.

Click to embiggen.

I like them so much I made a wallpaper for you! I may add a title to the image at some point, but I wanted to share it right away, so feel free to make it your desktop background, and make all your friends do it also. Click on the thumbnail above to get the hi-res version. And then stare at them on your desktop, instead of working. It’s what I’ve been doing.

I began with a pretty general idea of who these characters would be, but by the time I finished drawing them, I realized they’re destined to be a major part of Circuit canon. Perhaps even spin-off material? I’ll add that to the list of things I’m procrastinating on.

I hope you like ’em. If anyone wants a different wallpaper size, let me know in the comments below, and I’ll make it happen. How about a mobile phone version? My phone is an ancient flip phone, so I don’t really know if that’s a thing people would want. Again, let me know in the comments if you do.

Neill Blomkamp is making a new movie! It’s called Elysium, and I’m psyched to see it. Apparently Elysium is a space station where all the cool people live, while all the suckers are left to slum it on Earth. Matt Damon stars as a guy who gets an exoskeleton and learns how to kick ass with it. Sharlto Copley has a beard and a sword, which is also pretty cool. Jodie Foster plays a platinum blonde, which is kind of weird, but I think I’m down with it. She’s consistently awesome in most things I’ve seen her in, so I’m guessing it will work. In fact, all of those actors are consistently awesome. I like Matt Damon’s recent action hero gig, because he has the chops to add a better “caliber” of acting to an action movie. And Sharlto Copley was the unlikeliest of action heros in Blomkamp’s previous feature, District 9. Copley also played Murdock in the newest A-Team movie, which is extra points for him, even though I didn’t actually see that movie.

Blomkamp was supposed to direct a Halo movie a few years ago, but at some point, and for some reason, that was shelved and he made District 9instead. District 9 is an excellent action flick, if you haven’t seen it. A friend of mine didn’t like it as much, because it starts as heady sci-fi and switches to full-on action for the third act. The combination of the two didn’t work for him, but I thought it allowed for a great build-up of the main character, Wikus (Copley), before getting to the totally nuts catharsis of the final half hour of the film. Elysium is only Blomkamp’s second feature film, but based on the first, I’m excited for this new one.

Okay! Now let’s talk some more about Bioshock Infinite! I will keep this post spoiler-free, so no worries if you’re one of the three people reading this and you haven’t played or finished the game yet. Specifically, I want to talk about the meme I’ve seen pop up in the past week or so, which is that Infinite‘s copious violence detracts from the overall game.

Yes, the game is super ultra mega violent at times. Comically so, some might say. And there’s an argument going around that says this violence is turning off potential fans, who might otherwise be enjoying a fantastic game. Chris Plante offers what I consider the definitive version of this argument over at Polygon. I don’t mean to call out Plante specifically; I just think he offers the best case for that side. Plant writes that his wife was intrigued by the game, but became discouraged when she saw a guy’s face get ground into steak tartare by a spinning skyhook. Plante argues that a game as thought-provoking and well-written as Bioshock Infinite should aim for as wide an audience as possible, and that the gratuitous violence hinders this goal.

I disagree, and here’s why, simply put; you can’t please everyone.

Yes, Plante’s wife was interested, and she might have tried playing the game, and she ultimately didn’t try because the violence made her uncomfortable. That’s one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is me, a fan of the Bioshock series, who knows how scary and violent the Bioshock games can be, and who frankly looks forward to that. So if you’re Ken Levine and the Irrational dev team, and you make the decision to remove the gory stuff from the game, you’re also making a decision to please one player and disappoint another. In this particular universe, Irrational decided to include the violence and make me happy. That is, of course, a decision of which I approve. But you can’t please everybody; it’s impossible. So you try to please as many people as possible, but first and foremost, you make it a priority to stay true to your vision of what the game should be, AND you also make it a priority to please the fans of the original game. So should the fans suffer because a casualobserver may or may not decide to play the game? What if they don’t like first-person shooters? Should they make it a puzzle game? An RPG? Should Ken Levine decide to skip the game element altogether and write a book instead? Bioshock Infinite is, at its core, a Bioshock game. And that means being able to light people on fire and electrocute them. And shoot them while they’re electrocuted so their heads pop. Honestly, I don’t appreciate that people are pretending that the violence in the game is something to either be derided as the low point of an otherwise great game, or to be quietly, shamefully enjoyed. I proudly enjoy the ridiculous gory violence in Infinite, and I’ll bet there are plenty of other people who do as well.

As to the specific context of violence within the larger themes present in the game, I would argue that not only does it not detract from the story, but that it is integral to the experience and your knowledge of the characters involved. I know I said I won’t get spoiler-y, and I won’t… I promise. I can only say that all is not as it seems (gasp!) in sunny Columbia, and that the idyllic Main Street veneer gilds a much darker society. The main character, Booker, is a veteran of the Battle of Wounded Knee, and a Pinkerton to boot. Have you ever met a Pinkerton? Well… okay; me neither. But they don’t have a reputation for being nice guys. That’s not what they’re hired to do. They’re hired to terrorize people, and how better to terrorize someone than by pelting him with bloodthirsty crows and smashing his face with a freight hook? There is no better way; that’s the correct answer to that question.

You know you like it.

Anyway, Booker is the bull you let loose in your enemy’s china shop; that’s his special purpose. And Elizabeth is the exact opposite of that. And, Lo and Behold, the two are thrown together to form an unlikely duo! See how that works? Cool story potential! It’s like The Odd Couple, but with shooting and racism!

Totally coincidentally, I’m five books into Stephen King’s Dark Tower series at the moment, and that’s got a cool sci-fi/fantasy vibe and characters as well (it’s not as tight of a story as Bioshock Infinite, but that’s a blog for another time). You know what else it’s got? A ton of really gross and disturbing imagery, that’s what. Maybe Stephen King should’ve taken out all that gross and weird stuff so I’d feel more comfortable recommending that series to my grandmother. Actually, wait… my grandmother really likes to read Stephen King’s books. She’s read nearly all of them. She didn’t read The Dark Tower, though; she didn’t like all the sci-fi/fantasy stuff in it.

By now, I’m sure quite a few of you have heard that Bioshock Infinite is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’m here to tell you it’s better than that, friends. Sliced bread has just been dethroned. From now on, you’ll be throwing together a sandwich with mustard, baloney, and two pieces of Bioshock Infinite. And each time you do it, you will nearly pass out because you won’t be able to comprehend how delicious it is.

Strong words? Too strong? Nope, I don’t think so. I finished the game (for the first time) several days ago, and I’ve been thinking about it for pretty much the entire time since then. Right after I finished the game, I didn’t hesitate to put the experience right up there with Half Life 2; I knew right away that it was already on my short list of “best games I’ve ever played.” Now, after having some time to mull it over, I can say with confidence that Infinite has emerged the victor of my brain battle… it is my new favorite game.

So here’s what I’m going to do… I’m going to blab a bit more, in a general, spoiler-free way, about my impressions of the game… the gameplay, the setting, the characters, etc. And then, for the second part of this post, I am going to go into full-on spoiler mode, where I will try my best to interpret meat ‘n’ potatoes of the story, and why I think it’s such a beautiful tale. No spoilers yet, though. Rest assured, I will clearly mark the spoiler point-of-no-return. You can keep reading for now, if you haven’t played (or are still playing), and need further convincing to pick up (or finish) the game.

But seriously, just get the game and play it, if you haven’t already. Do you like well-told stories? If so, then this game is for you. If not… no big deal. I won’t judge you (I’m judging you). If you don’t play many video games, but still like good stories, find someone who has the game, camp out on their couch for twelve hours, set the game to “easy,” and play through it. You may want to schedule an additional twelve hours, because you’ll most likely want to play through it again; It’s not mandatory, of course, but I highly recommend it.

If there was any argument left as to whether or not some video games can be considered high art, the argument is now over. If you are still on the “video games cannot be art” side of the fence, it’s time to give it up and admit defeat. Simply judged as an interactive story, Bioshock Infinite tells a better story than most movies or TV shows have done. And it’s right up there with some of the best books, comic books, and other things that contain stories in them. Especially if you like science-fiction; but even if you don’t like science fiction, the tale nestled at the center of all the potentially distracting sci-fi themes has genuine heart. More on that later.

I could give you a rambling list of reasons why the story is several cuts above most video game stories, but in a nutshell, it’s this: every detail furthers the story in some way. Every thing you do and see, every character you meet, every clip of dialogue, every song you hear, has significance. Which is one reason I recommend at least two plays through it. You’ll notice all the little moments that foreshadow what’s to come. And this is the difference between a good story and a great story. The Mass Effect series, for example, has a good story; you may like the characters, or the side stories, or the themes that are explored along the way; you may even like the central story (many aren’t happy with the conclusion, but some are). But, chances are, you’ll overlook the weaker moments in favor of the good ones. There are plenty of areas where the pacing is bad, or a plot point is revealed in a clumsy way, even if you still appreciate the story that runs throughout.

Infinite does not have this problem; it is, so far as I can tell, an exceptionally well-crafted piece of storytelling. I can’t think of one weak part I chose to overlook in favor of the larger story.

The setting and attention to detail are engrossing, especially if you have a PC capable of running the game with all the bells and whistles turned to “11.” Irrational is still using that dated Unreal Engine 3, but they certainly squeeze every last bit of awesomeness out of it. The city of Columbia is gorgeous and immersive, during both its most peaceful and its most violent times. The voice acting is top-notch. The characters are believable and compelling, and even the supporting characters have complexity(I dare you to not have conflicting emotions about the Songbird). The gameplay is fun, as well. If you’re not into first-person shooters, that may be a sticking point for you, but if that’s the case, I will again recommend you turn down the difficulty and give it a try. I did encounter some difficulty spikes late in the game, but I’ll chalk that up more to my deficiencies as an FPS player than any fault of the game. There’s some battles toward the end that made me want to cry, but on “easy,” I’m sure they won’t be a problem.

The AI is great, both for the enemies you fight, and for Elizabeth, who is your ally and companion for most of the game. Elizabeth is never a nuisance; you never have to worry about her getting in the way, and she actually helps you at crucial times. Elizabeth was a bold move for the developers at Irrational, because so much of your enjoyment of the game hinges upon the player liking (and becoming attached to) her character. If they’d done it wrong, an annoying or poorly-acted Elizabeth could have easily ruined the entire game. But they didn’t do it wrong; they did the opposite of wrong. In fact, I think they knocked it out of the frackin’ park with Elizabeth.

Oh, and the music. Not only are there some fantastic period renditions of more contemporary songs scattered throughout, but Irrational has found a way to give even the songs in the game some significance to the story. I still get chills whenever I hear that barbershop quartet version of The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.”

The only serious criticism I have is that the game doesn’t use enough different models for the run-of-the-mill townspeople you see milling about the streets of Columbia, which gives the place an odd, Village Of the Damned vibe at times. So, okay, the game isn’t perfect… but at this point, we’re picking nits that are so tiny they’re meaningless unless you’re determined to look for them.

So go play it already! And when you’ve finished, you can come back here and read the rest of my post and we’ll have a nice conversation about it. That’s right…

WARNING: I am now going to dish out some MAJOR SPOILERY SPOILERS from here on out. I am spoiling the CRAP right out of this game for the rest of this post!

Are you still here? Good. I know it’s only been a little more than a week since Infinite came out, but my head’s been buzzing since I finished, and I need to get a few things off my chest.

I’ll start by saying that the multiverse trope is done very well in this game, I think. It all seems to fit pretty tightly together, and I’ve spent some time thinking about all the angles and possibilities, and whether or not the plot is strong enough to hold up to the questions I’ve been throwing at it. I have yet to find something that doesn’t make sense, and I’m pretty happy about that.

But I think everyone’s been spending lots of time poring over the sci-fi elements of the story, so I don’t think I’ll spend much time covering that ground. Of course, I’ll mention some things tangentially, but I don’t really want to get too far into any discussion of free will, or quantum physics, or the Schrodinger’s Cat Theory, or variables vs. constants, and so forth. Because while everyone obsesses over these things (and I agree it’s fun to obsess over them), I see very little discussion online about the very poignant and heartfelt story at the center of it all; the story of a father and his daughter.

“God only knows what I’d be without you.”

That refrain, along with “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”, is absolutely central to my understanding of what’s going on in Bioshock Infinite. Isn’t it great that they can throw a song in there and make it seem like a casual and witty anachronism, but then also make the entire story benefit from it? It goes back to what I was saying earlier, about a good story versus a great story; great stories do things like this.

Anyway… I think “God Only Knows” is, in some ways, even more important to the story than “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”, and the fact that the full version of “God Only Knows” is the first thing you hear as the end credits roll, only reinforces my belief. Because this is a story about Booker and his daughter. It’s about Booker’s guilt from the horrible things he’s done in his past, and his fear of not being worthy of his daughter. The very first line of dialogue in the game, before you even see any of the characters, is this:

Elizabeth: Booker, are you afraid of God?

Booker: No. But I’m afraid of you.

At face value, when these lines come up again much later on in the story, we’re meant to think that Booker is referring to the terrible power which Elizabeth has; namely, the ability to travel between parallel universes at will. And yes, Booker (and everyone else) has every right to be afraid, because no one should have that power; it’s too great a responsibility.

But why put that line at the very beginning? Because Booker is also afraid of being judged by his daughter. He’s afraid he’s not good enough for her, and he’s afraid she’ll hate him for the man he was. It’s why he gives her over to Robert Lutece (as a proxy for Comstock) in that moment of awful weakness. But then… God only knows what I’d be without you. We see two different versions of this. In one, Booker gives baby Anna to Lutece, and spends two decades atoning for his greatest sin. He carves her initials into his hand as penance. And he lives in misery until Robert Lutece returns and (motivated by a desire to correct his own mistake) offers Booker a chance at redemption. In the other version, Booker, baptized as Comstock, is a monster who is rendered sterile during his drive for power and unable to produce offspring of his own. Still, he yearns for Anna, and in his madness and his jealousy he goes to great lengths to steal her away from Booker, who he deems undeserving.

So. While Comstock seeks redemption through baptism and God, Booker doesn’t really care what God thinks of him, and he lives without hope because he’s already given away Anna, his one real chance at redemption. I believe it’s Rosalind Lutece who says, referring to the initials on Booker’s hand, “It’s his hairshirt, as he is ours.” Or something to that effect; I’m paraphrasing.

Hey, while I’m on the subject of the Lutece twins… they are quite busy throughout the whole game atoning for a sin of their own. Specifically, Anna’s abduction. Because it’s Anna’s abduction which causes the hiccup within the multiverse. Anna’s finger gets clipped off as she reaches for her dad, leaving a piece of herself in one universe while the rest of her is carried off to another. Rosalind states that this is likely the source of Elizabeth’s (Anna’s) strange and terrible power, saying something about the universe not liking its peas mixed in its porridge. Comstock eventually betrays the Luteces, leaving them trapped for eternity between worlds. Rosalind is content to spend eternity with her twin(?) Robert, but Robert is convinced that their role is not finished until they fix what they’ve done, and unstick the universe from the loop in which it’s caught. And how does he propose they do this? Rosalind gives the answer in one of her voice recordings: they have to return the girl. Robert believes so strongly in this goal that he threatens Rosalind with an ultimatum… he threatens to leave his sister and go his own way if she doesn’t help him. To quote Rosalind: “he sees an empty page, where I see King Lear.”

This, of course, is the argument the Luteces are having when Booker first (but not really first) meets them in the boat off the coast of Portland. Rosalind doesn’t see the point of the “thought experiment,” but Robert is determined to fix their mistake… by returning Anna in one piece to her own place and time. Rosalind gives Booker a box with a gun and Elizabeth’s picture in it, with the words “bring to New York unharmed” written on the back. Why give Booker this message? It’s been years since the “give us the girl and wipe away the debt” conversation. In his confusion, Booker (and we) combine the two, but this is an entirely new set of instructions; the first instructions were about giving away the girl; the new instructions are about getting her back. Unharmed. With all fingers attached. Sans universe-tearing abilities.

And how to do this? Kill Comstock. Both Booker and Elizabeth agree on this point, but Elizabeth is the one who first sees the way (and has the power) to do it. Kill Comstock at the source; drown him during the baptism. It’s the only way to snuff out all the Comstocks that ever existed (or will exist) and ensure that Anna stays at home with Booker. Of course, it doesn’t prevent anything from already happening (like Rosalind argues), but it does fix the hiccup in the multiverse and allow other possibilities to continue forth from that point (as Robert argues). Namely, it gives Booker the chance to find redemption through his daughter.

A lot of people (from what I gather on various Internets locations) seem to think Infinite has a really depressing ending. I don’t think it’s depressing at all. Yes, Booker drowns at the end (he sure does drown a lot, doesn’t he?), and Elizabeth ceases to exist as we know her, but they (along with the Lutece twins) succeed in cleaning up the mess they made from mucking about with the universe, and in doing so, return baby Anna to young Booker. That’s the point of the little bit we get after the credits roll. It’s back to October 8th, 1893, the day Booker gives Anna away to Comstock. Except there’s no knock at the door, because there is no Comstock. It’s only Booker and Anna, left to their own devices. It won’t be easy, and it could play out many different ways, but the game shows us many constants and variables. One of the constants we see is that Booker and Anna will do just about anything to protect each other, and another constant is that the two of them make a great team. So I’m hopeful for them.

Phew! Are you still reading? Congratulations, if you are. Like I said, it’s a great game. There’s all sorts of other things I wanted to talk about, but I’m exhausted from all the writing I’ve already done, and you’re exhausted from reading it, so let’s leave it at that. But if anyone wants to comment, I’d be glad to continue the discussion. I’m currently on another play-through, and I’m really curious to see what kind of DLC shows up in the near future. I haven’t had this much fun picking apart a story in a long time. Thanks Ken Levine and Irrational Games for giving my brain such good exercise.

Good news, everyone! I made it safely back from PAX East. Hopefully everyone else there can say the same. I wish I had some pictures for you, but it was kind of a whirlwind tour for me this year… I did get to check out the things I wanted to check out, but it was absolutely crazy this time through! That’s what I get for going on a Friday instead of a Sunday. On the other hand, I had no problem getting T-shirts in the size I wanted. Took me a whole year to get that Bastion shirt I coveted the last time I was at the Supergiant booth, but I got it.

Speaking of Supergiant… they had a MUCH bigger booth this year, and I’m very happy for them, because Bastion remains one of the best action RPGs I have ever played. You’ve probably heard by now, but they’re working on a brand new game called Transistor, of which they had a playable early demo at their booth. Sadly, I did not get to try it out, because (like every other booth) their booth was insanely busy. I did get to watch it a bit, though, and I’m excited to eventually play it. It looks great, but that’s no surprise, really, is it? As far as I know, it’s slated for release sometime in 2014. So maybe I’ll be able to try it out at next year’s PAX East?

One game I did try out this year was Fractured Soul, and I’m glad to say I got to play it early, because it looks very cool indeed. It’s essentially a classic 2D platformer (in the vein of Mega Man or perhaps Contra) with a twist; you play on a split screen, with two versions of the current level side-by-side. Take a look at their Steam Greenlight page and you’ll see what I mean. So you have the two simultaneous levels, which are very similar but have subtle differences in the layout of their platforms and barriers, and you have to nimbly warp between the two to finish the level. It’s difficult to accurately describe, and the video on the Greenlight page does a much better job than I can, but I liked the concept of it and hooked me right away. I only played a really early level, but I can see it quickly becoming insanely difficult. Which is a good thing. I should mention the studio is Endgame Studios; you may want to keep an eye on them, because with any luck, they’ll be a lot bigger at this time next year. Fractured Soul is a very neat game, and it deserves attention. If you have a 3DS, I think you can buy it buy it right now on their eShop. And if you have Steam, I recommend you take the time to vote for it on their Greenlight page. I want to play more of it, so I’m voting it up right after I finish this post. Scratch that… I just upvoted it now.

Overall, I noticed that there were many more Indie games at PAX this year, and I think that’s a very good thing. I love it when people who love games are also able to make games, and it seems like more and more people are able to do that and find success. It’s a good time to be a gamer.

Although my friend Jed was not at the Zpocalypse booth on Friday, I did still stop by the booth, say hello, and talk to one of the other developers a bit about the game. It’s been so long since I’ve played a table-top game, I felt a bit out of my element, but Julie the Dark Duchess of Discipline was very nice and answered all of my stupid questions. I’m so impressed at how a small group of people can make such a high-quality product; hooray for digital printing! I wanted to pick up a copy, but table top games are expensive now(!). I saw another booth that was selling Axis & Allies (one of my favorite board games of old) for 60 bucks… 60 bucks! It’s interesting how table-top games have gone from being a mass-market toy product to more of a niche industry. Like I said, hooray for digital printing, because it allows people to occupy that niche. I guess I’m willing to pay a bit more when I know I’m supporting a group of gaming enthusiasts, rather than a giant toy company. I haven’t picked up a copy of Zpocalypse yet, because I want to see if I can gather enough friends who will promise to play it with me once I buy it, but I would like to pick it up soon, because it looks super fun.

Did anyone else pick up a copy of Bioshock Infinite yet? I got mine yesterday, and though I’ve only played for a couple hours, I can tell it’s good; like… really good. Possibly “Game of the Year” good. Maybe it’s a bit early for such strong words, but I think you know what I mean when I say sometimes you can tell right away when you’re playing a game. It just hooks you immediately in a certain way. For me, they really nail the atmosphere; Columbia is a superbly well-realized game world. The music is also excellent, and there’s that weird sense of humor that I liked so much from the first Bioshock.

Since I don’t want to spoil anything, and since I can’t really spoil much anyway because I’m not far in the game, I want to give you just one spoiler-free anecdote. I was using a newly-acquired “vigor” (this game’s version of “plasmids”), one which possesses your enemies so that they fight their allies instead of you. I had also upgraded this vigor so that your target, after doing your bidding, will commit suicide at the end of the effect. The thug I used it on had only a baseball bat as a weapon, and I watched him attack his friends, and then I watched him beat himself in the head with his own bat afterwards, yelling and gibbering. His helmet flew off and everything! That’s the sense of humor I was talking about.

Would you kindly smack yourself in the face with this skyhook?

I’ll probably have much more to say on Infinite next week, but I’ll leave you with that for now. Because it’s the start of my weekend, and I have to go play it some more. Cheers!

Hey Circuit readers! Just to make sure you know, I am indeed back from my vacation, and there are all-new Circuits this week. I spent a week in summer-like conditions at the Family Florida Compound, but have returned to the familiarity of a confusing Maine-style spring. Yes, I’ll admit; it does look nice outside, what with the fresh snow and all, but I’m ready to stop paying for oil heat now, thanks very much.

This weekend is PAX East! Who’s going? Me… that’s who. I’m going to meet up with some friends in Boston on Friday and we’re going to nerd it up for several glorious hours. Here are some things I’m particularly excited about:

– The American Classic Arcade Museum! I missed it last year, but I will not make the same mistake this time. Every year, ACAM has a room at PAX, but if you live in New England, you owe it to yourself to go to the actual museum in Laconia, New Hampshire, and try out the hundreds of arcade machines they have. They’ve got more classic arcade games than you can shake a stick at (and why would you want to shake a stick at an arcade game?) as well as a respectable collection of pinball games. Pinball games aren’t really my forte, so I can’t tell you how good their collection really is, but they do have quite a few. The PAX room will be crowded and only contain a fraction of their collection, but the atmosphere is always excellent, and it’s a great way to take a break from the convention floor for a bit.

– The Zpocalypse booth: Zpocalypse is a table-top game (or, as we said back in my day, a “board game”) set during the zombie apocalypse. You’re familiar with the zombie apocalypse, right? You should be, unless you’ve been living in a fortified underground bunker for the past several years. In which case, well… maybe you are more familiar with the zombie apocalypse than I am. Anyway… my buddy Jed made the miniatures to be used in the game, and I’m very excited to check out their booth. Although, much to my dismay, Jed will not actually be there. He’s going on Saturday, and I’ll be there on Friday. Oh, the humanity! Still, I want to support his awesome work, so I’ll be going by the booth, saying hello, and if I’m feeling really rich, I’ll buy a copy of the game. If you also want to support my friend (and you should, because he is great), head on over to the Zpocalypse: Aftermath kickstarter page

– The Supergiant Games booth: Yes, the creator’s of the fantastic action-RPG Bastion will once again be representin’ at PAX East. This time, they will have a playable early demo of their new game, Transistor! I can’t wait to try it out, and also buy a Bastion T-shirt, since last year all the good sizes of T-shirts were sold out.

And here are some things I will not be able to check out, because they are on the wrong day:

–MC Frontalot. Damn, I wanted to see Frontalot at PAX. As a fan of both hip-hop and nerds, he’s right up my alley. I’ve seen him before (a couple years ago at New England Webcomics Weekend) but I really wanted to see him perform to a huge audience. Alas, Friday is my PAX day, and he is not performing that night. Oh well… guess I’ll just have to watch Nerdcore Rising again.

– Oh, and Bethesda is inviting people to drink beer in a castle. Why does this have to be on Saturday? I’m pretty sure I told Bethesda I’d be in town on Friday, dammit. Why must they always mess with my groove? I mean, it’s beer in a goddamn castle; it’s like they went through my journal and made this thing just for me. And then scheduled it on the wrong day. Sigh. Does anyone know of any castles open on Friday night where I could drink some beer at? Whatever. I’d be lying if I said I’d never drunk beer in a castle before. Maybe it’s meant to only be a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Couple more things, not PAX-related: Two weeks ago I gave my first impressions of Mass Effect 3‘s new Citadel DLC. I was thinking I’d elaborate after I’d finished it, but I realized I summed it up accurately enough the first time; it’s fun and goofy. Try not to be mad about the other stuff that got you in a funk about ME3, if you did happen to get into a funk about it. Pretend it’s an entirely separate thing, if you have to; or pretend it takes place after the events in the main story. Taken on it’s own, it’s got a lot of great dialogue, and some really genuinely funny moments. It never takes itself too seriously, which I think is an important thing to keep in mind. I have to post this one Joker clip, because it’s especially great:

The thing is, I didn’t get this scene in my playthrough! Did anyone else? At first I assumed it was an alternate version of the scene where you first meet Joker at the French sushi restaurant (the French are masters of sushi), but it’s not; it’s a different scene altogether. It looks to be after the story mission, maybe? And it’s definitely in the casino, not the restaurant. If anyone reading got this scene in their game, I’d love to hear how you got it. There’s a Wrex one, too, which is equally hilarious, and which I also did not find in my playthrough.

Next week I plan on getting Bioshock: Infinite, so hopefully I’ll have some first impressions of that for you next Wednesday. Judging by the trailers and early gameplay, it looks really good. Not that you can accurately judge a game by its trailers, but… we shall see. I’m optimistic. Unlike some YouTube commenters out there. This last link is NSFW, by the way. Keep the volume down or put on some headphones.